‘Yes,’ Chumana hisses. ‘And, while it is possible to translate the Koinamens into human language, its emotion, and therefore most of its meaning, is inevitably lost.’
‘Every act of translation requires sacrifice,’ I murmur to myself.
‘Thisis why humans must never be permitted to imitate it,’ Chumana says urgently. Her eyes are like golden suns, boring into me as if trying to read my mind. ‘To record and emit one of Muirgen’s calls to Rhydderch on its original frequency would cause him tofeelher in his being. It would be likeplaying your sister’s voice to you inside your mind, as clear as if she were standing right beside you. You would follow it to the ends of the earth, would you not?’
Chumana lets out a loud, hot breath. ‘So would Rhydderch. And the Bulgarian humansknewthis. It is why they wanted to exploit it, and it is why they are dead.’
A loud roar rings through the night.
‘Wyvernmire’s dragons know you’re here,’ Atlas tells Chumana, lying Ralph at the foot of a tree.
Chumana nods, watching me as I try to wrap my mind round what she has just revealed. Any human translation of the Koinamens would be a pale imitation of its original meaning. I glance back at the glasshouse. What we were doing in there was an impossible task. And yet even our feeble attempts could have had disastrous consequences. Now I understand Muirgen’s fury and why Chumana flew all the way to Bletchley to make me see.
‘I’m going for Ursa,’ I tell the boys.
Atlas nods. ‘And then we need to get to the Aviation workshop.’
‘The Aviation workshop?’
‘That’s how we escape,’ Atlas says.
‘Can’t we go on Chumana’s—’
Chumana swoops upwards, her wings beating just above our heads before she glides across the trees towards the manor. There’s a sound like screeching metal.
‘She’s fighting,’ Atlas says.
‘Am I hearing this right?’ Marquis says. ‘Are you suggesting we escape by plane?’
‘Yes,’ Atlas says impatiently. ‘You built it. Didn’t you tell me you know it inside out?’
‘Doesn’t mean I can fly it, you bloody idiot!’ Marquis replies.
‘We’re wasting time!’ I shout. ‘Marquis, can you find Sophie?’
‘She’ll be at the manor,’ he says. ‘We agreed to meet there if we got separated.’
We run through the forest, the sound of exploding glass echoing behind us, until we reach the garden. In the sky above the manor, Chumana collides with another dragon, sending it smashing into the roof.
‘Fire!’ a maid screams as she comes running out of the kitchen door. ‘Dragons!’
We duck as a ball of flames hits the bush next to us and then two Guardians come running round the corner.
They both shout out when they see us. ‘All recruits are to report to—’
Marquis raises his gun and shoots. The bullet skitters off the drainpipe, but it’s enough to make them disappear behind the wall.
‘Reckon you could do any better?’ Marquis says to Atlas when he smirks.
‘Absolutely not,’ Atlas replies.
He follows me through the door, but I stop as a group of people hurtle down the dark hallway towards us.
‘Go back, go back!’ I shout to Atlas, turning round.
‘Viv!’ squeaks a small voice. ‘Did you see the dragon catch that boy in the sky?’
I feel Marquis tense and Atlas fumbles with a light.
